


Whumptober 2020 - 23 - Exhausted

by Celticgal1041



Series: Whumptober 2020 [23]
Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sleep Deprivation, Torture, Whumptober 2020, exhausted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:14:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27168479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celticgal1041/pseuds/Celticgal1041
Summary: While none of Ito’s techniques had been exactly pleasant to endure, he’d done alright so far except for one thing – he wasn’t allowed to sleep.
Series: Whumptober 2020 [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949548
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Whumptober 2020 - 23 - Exhausted

It certainly wasn’t the first time in his life that he’d gone without sleep, but he’d freely admit it had become harder to deal with as he’d gotten older. Maybe he could also blame part of it on having grown soft; his laid-back Hawaiian lifestyle didn’t often require him to push his body past his limits, and when he did, it was more often in the pursuit of some recreational activity where it was one-hundred percent his choice.

Now, it was a pressing desire to not let anyone down that drove him. First, it had been juggling two cases at once when Higgins had to depart suddenly to attend the funeral of a family member in the UK. She’d been sparse with the details, but it had been obvious from the pained look in her eyes that whoever she’d lost had been important to her.

Magnum had given her a brief, gentle hug, told her not to worry about anything in Oahu, and asked when her flight departed so he could drive her to the airport. The following day’s 3 AM start had been the beginning of his seemingly endless day.

Since he was up anyway, he headed from the airport to a favorite coffee shop, smirking a little when he realized he was there before it had even opened. He waited for an hour in the Ferrari, doing case research on his phone, and then treated himself to an extra-large latte to kickstart his flagging energy.

His next stop involved doing a favour for TC, the man having called him in something of a panic while he was enjoying his morning brew. Apparently, the pilot had been waiting on an important part to arrive, but the manufacturer had missed the previous day’s shipping deadline, meaning it wouldn’t arrive until the tomorrow. Magnum didn’t understand the full explanation, but he comprehended enough that the part was critical to keeping TC flying, but the pilot didn’t have time to pick it up himself.

Doing a quick GPS search on his phone, Magnum set out, estimating he could cut the 3-hour drive down to just over two if he pushed the speed limit a little. While he had other things he should be doing, there was no way he could turn down TC’s request for help, the pilot having assisted him too many times in the past to count. Besides, it was an opportunity to enjoy some time in the high-end performance vehicle, and highway driving allowed a sense of freedom that was seldom available when driving within the city. Or so he thought.

His outbound trip had been relatively quiet, and he’d made good time to his destination. Five minutes after his arrival, he’d secured TC’s part and was heading back, only to find himself sitting on the highway behind an accident that was bad enough it had brought traffic to a complete standstill. Magnum did his best to quell his impatience, reasoning with himself that these sorts of things happened, even as time seemed to be quickly slipping through his fingers.

Despite the early start to his day, it was past lunchtime by the time he made it back to Island Hoppers. The look of gratitude on TC’s face had made the entire ordeal worthwhile, and he’d waved genially to the man as he’d left, his mind already shifting back to his two clients.

The remainder of the day had seen him splitting his time between the two cases, spending several hours pouring over financial and real estate records for one, and then sitting outside an office for the other. He was about to give up for the day and head home when his client’s husband finally appeared, leaving Magnum no choice other than to follow.

Unsurprisingly, he found himself parked outside a local hotel, but not one where he’d be able to accomplish anything from the outside since the rooms were all contained in a high tower, and accessible only through internal doorways. Sighing, he pulled out his wallet and thumbed through the bills, determining he’d have just enough cash to put his plan into action.

Two hours and two hundred dollars later, he’d gotten the evidence he needed after taking the busboy’s place and delivering a room service order to the room. Remaining inconspicuous while he took photos of the couple wasn’t easy, but he was confident he had more than enough to support his client’s claim of infidelity.

It was nearing 9 PM by the time he’d returned to the Ferrari, the only thing on his mind the number of meals he’d missed throughout the course of the day. Deciding to treat himself at La Mariana, he’d gotten only as far as turning over his car when his client called for an update on her case. Fighting back the urge to sigh, he explained he’d just finished up, only for the woman to demand the results of his investigation at once. Grudgingly, he agreed to meet her in just over an hour at a coffee shop of her choosing.

His time was quickly chewed up by a return trip to Robin’s Nest to download and print the photos he’d taken before going to meet with his client. His hopes for a short conversation were dashed when she turned out to be a crier, and he spent the better part of an hour consoling the poor woman before he was able to escape.

With midnight approaching, he dragged his weary body back to the Ferrari, groaning as he sunk into the soft leather seats. Scrubbing a hand across his face, he decided to head home for a quick bite followed by a solid eight hours of sleep. He’d nearly made it too, until his phone rang again, and he momentarily considered letting the call go to voicemail. But because it was Rick on the other end, he couldn’t in good conscience ignore the call, although he was wishing a few minutes later that he had.

Rick was short-staffed and it was inventory night; Magnum knew even before his friend had voiced his request that his hopes of a midnight snack and a warm bed were completely lost to him. It was the early hours of the morning when they were finally finished, and Thomas’ eyes were practically crossing with exhaustion.

As he left, he turned to his friend and said, “Please, Rick, I need to get some sleep. Don’t call me for the next 24 hours unless someone’s dying; please?”

Slapping him on the upper arm in a friendly gesture, Wright agreed.” No problem, man, and I’ll even do you one better and put the word out to everyone else to do the same.”

Magnum smiled in gratitude at his friend and offered a tired way goodbye as he made his way back to the car. _God, what a long day._ He was thankful when he finally pulled through the gate at Robin’s Nest, turning off the Ferrari’s engine and just reveling in the feeling of doing nothing.

“Maybe I’d better get moving before I fall asleep right here,” he mumbled to himself as he felt his eyes beginning to droop.

Climbing out of the car, he’d just managed to close the door when something cold and hard pressed against his neck. The resulting jolt of adrenaline cleared the fog from his brain as he realized his exhaustion had let someone get the drop on him.

* * *

Magnum had lost all sense of time, the man who’d been waiting for him having bound and blindfolded him, and then driven him to a smelly warehouse at least an hour away from Robin’s estate. He credited the danger he was in with keeping him awake during the drive, the gentle rocking motion of the vehicle normally hard to resist, especially after having been awake for so long.

He’d been pushed into a hard metal chair when they’d arrived at their destination, his wrists and ankles taped to the seat so he wouldn’t be able to move. Then Haruto Ito showed up and the real fun had begun.

Ito was the partner of his other client, and Magnum was fairly certain the man had been stealing money from the duo’s company for the last couple years. His client had suspected as much and hired Thomas to find proof so he could use the information as leverage to buy Haruto out of the company at a vastly reduced price.

Ito had somehow gotten wind of the investigator’s involvement and now wanted any evidence he’d collected so far. Given the whole client-investigator confidentiality thing, Magnum wasn’t feeling in any mood to cooperate. That’s when Haruto got creative with his persuasion techniques.

First had been fists. Magnum would admit the man had a mean right hook as his swollen left eye and aching cheekbone could attest. When that gained the man nothing other than Thomas’ sarcastic wit, he moved on to breaking bones. Magnum still felt nauseous when he glanced down at the swollen fingers of his right hand, three of which were now twisted and mangled and throbbing in time with the beat of his heart.

After that had been electricity, applied with a cattle prod of all things, and Thomas was certain his heart would occasionally miss a few beats, only to race for several seconds after as though trying to catch up. While none of Ito’s techniques had been exactly pleasant to endure, he’d done alright so far except for one thing – he wasn’t allowed to sleep.

When Haruto tired of what he was doing, he’d disappear for a several hours to do who knew what. Normally, Magnum would have used that time to recover some of his energy and prepare himself for the next round, but for the fact that Ito’s two henchmen refused to let him close his eyes for more than a few seconds.

“Hey!” one of the men yelled at him again when Magnum’s heavy lids drooped too far for his liking. Thomas threw the bad guy a glare, although he wasn’t certain how intimidating it was at this point since it felt like his bruises had bruises, and he couldn’t even sit up straight anymore.

Taking a deeper breath, and ignoring the way the burns across his chest tugged uncomfortably, he rasped out, “What time is it?”

“What do you care?” goon number two replied. “You have somewhere you gotta be?”

Biting his lip against the sarcastic comment that flew to his tongue, he replied, “Just curious is all.”

Goon number two decided it wouldn’t hurt to answer his question and said, “Closing in on 2 AM.”

“Guess that means no more visits from your boss tonight?” Magnum couldn’t resist saying.

“He’ll be back in the morning,” the first man replied. “But don’t worry, we’ll be here to keep you company until our replacements show up.”

One side of Magnum’s mouth lifted in a mirthless grin, certain he already knew how the rest of his night would go. For once, he wished he’d been wrong. His 3 AM wake-up was accompanied by a bucket of cold water, his soaking clothes leaving him shivering in the cool night air. At 4:30 he gasped awake when salt was rubbed into one of the burns on his chest; the resulting sharp sting keeping him alert until well past dawn.

Feeling himself about to fall asleep again, Magnum licked his dry lips and asked, “What time did you say your boss was showing up?”

Goon number two replied, “We didn’t.” When the investigator continued to look at him expectantly, he relented and looked at his watch. “Probably another half-hour or so.”

Magnum gave a small nod, not caring how the men interpreted it. “Look, it’s been a while. Any chance I could freshen up a bit before he shows up?”

Bad guy number one snorted with mirth, and Thomas pressed his advantage. “Always gotta put your best foot forward, right?”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” the man replied. Pulling out a knife he slit through the tape restraining the investigator, motioning to his colleague to escort Magnum to the bathroom.

Thomas stood slowly, his muscles stiff with disuse, and he pressed his damaged hand gently to his chest to protect it from being jarred. “Come on,” goon number two directed, motioning to the other side of the warehouse with his gun. Magnum gave a small nod of understanding and moved in the direction indicated, spotting a sign when he got closer that pointed down a hallway where the bathroom was.

Finding the right door, he pushed his way inside with his shoulder, the other man following a step behind. As soon as Thomas had cleared the door, he fell heavily back against it, causing his keeper to slam into it face first. Magnum pulled the door open hurriedly and found the man dazed and lying on the floor. Wasting no time, Thomas ripped the gun from the goon’s lax fingers, cringing a bit as he pistol-whipped the stunned man to send him into unconsciousness.

Knowing he had only a few minutes before the goon number one grew suspicious, Magnum hurriedly searched the downed man’s pockets for a set of keys. “Damnit,” he said when he came up empty, though he took the man’s phone and wallet to pass along to HPD once he’d escaped.

“Hey, what’s taking so long?” bad guy number one shouted, alerting Thomas that he was out of time. Shoving what he’d taken into his pockets, he scurried down the hallway, hoping he was heading towards an exit rather than a dead end. As the long hallway curved, he was rewarded with an exit sign. “Yes,” he hissed excitedly as he sped up his pace. Moments later he’d pushed through the door and was sprinting away from the building as fast as his legs would carry him.

* * *

“That’s some crazy day you had, TM,” Calvin chuckled as Magnum finished giving his statement to Katsumoto.

“You’re telling me,” Thomas replied as he watched the last of the plaster being applied to his hand. The breaks to his fingers had been severe enough that the doctor had ordered complete immobilization, leaving the investigator with a cast that encompassed his hand and part of his wrist.

“I’m just impressed that you found that much trouble in such a short amount of time,” Higgins chimed in, her smile taking the sting from the words.

“I’m more impressed you got out of it without our help,” Rick joked, prompting laughter from the others. “Normally you need us to ride in and save your scrawny backside.”

“Ah, guys,” Katsumoto interrupted their teasing, motioning towards the gurney with his chin. Magnum’s eyes were closed, and his breathing had evened out into sleep, not even twitching when the nurse had placed his casted hand into his lap.

The sight of the sleeping former SEAL had Rick chuckling softly. “He did say he wanted to be left alone for a full 24 hours.”

“Then I suggest we start the countdown from now,” Juliet replied, pulling the blanket at the P.I.’s feet up to cover his legs and torso.

With fond smiles, they snuck from the room, certain they’d receive a call from the hospital when their friend was ready to come home. Until then, they’d let the exhausted man get some well-deserved sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to AZGirl for proofing; all remaining mistakes are mine.
> 
> This story was based on the day 23 prompt: What’s a whumpee gotta do to get some sleep around here? exhaustion / narcolepsy / sleep deprivation
> 
> Thanks for reading and I'd love to hear your thoughts if you're so inclined!


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